[4] The top of the body varies between olive brown and green in adults, dark grey in juveniles, whilst the underside is white.

[4][5] The wing-like pectoral fins are used to propel the stingray across the ocean bottom, whilst the slender tail possesses a long, serrated and venomous spine at the base, used for defence.

The location of the spiracles enables the stingray to take in water whilst lying on the seabed, or when partially buried in sediment.

[7][8] Southern stingrays are nocturnal predators, who spray water from their mouths or flap their fins vigorously to disturb the substrate and expose hidden prey.

This bottom-dwelling species is often found singly or in pairs, and can reach population densities estimated up to 245 per square kilometre (630/sq mi) in certain shallow systems thought to be nursery grounds.

This wave-like motion is important for Hypanus americanus because it allows them to escape predators, forage efficiently, and generally maneuver quickly.

[10][11][12][13][14] When scientists revealed the contents of the stomach of one Hypanus americanus, they found evidence of a great variety of ingested prey, including small fishes, worms, crustaceans and bivalves.

[15] As mentioned earlier in this article, the Hypanus americanus are smooth and efficient swimmers, allowing them to capture a variety of mobile as well as sessile prey.

[17][18] In shallow waters, there is a commensal foraging relationship between Hypanus americanus fish and Nannopterum auritum birds in coastal areas generally like the Gulf of Mexico.

An example of a primary nursery is in Belize, where Hypanus americanus females pay seasonal visits for the purposes of mating and giving birth to offspring.

During one study, juvenile Hypanus americanus were caught by scientists at 10 to 20 m depths on rock reef surfaces nearby during the months of May, November and December.

As previously mentioned in the article, since a female has the ability to mate soon after giving birth, it is plausible that these are sex pheromones.

This docile and food-reward driven behaviour has led to many locals comparing the hand-fed and belly-rubbed stingray to an over-fed household canine.

Despite its relative hardiness, it is best avoided as it requires an immense 4,200 gallon capacity system and will devour any fish or invertebrate it is able to capture.

[30] This article incorporates text from the ARKive fact-file "Southern stingray" under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License and the GFDL.